5 ms·

Ten years ago I wrote a science fiction novel in Finnish, printed 300 hardcover copies at my own expense, and gave them away to people over the years. I would g

by pavlov 2y ago

Ten years ago I wrote a science fiction novel in Finnish, printed 300 hardcover copies at my own expense, and gave them away to people over the years. I would guess less than 10% of those copies have actually been read. (A few people claim they liked it, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean they read it.) So, a waste of time and money? That's not how I feel about it at all. The creative process was illuminating. And as you say, it's satisfying to think that there's now a physical artifact of my mind that's longer and deeper than any other work I've produced, and it will probably stay for a while on somebody's bookshelf after I'm gone.

hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago
Exactly. Don't expect anyone to read what you wrote, much less commercial success, unless you were a Harvard undergrad English prodigy who joined Penguin publishing, or somehow wiggled into the circle of [City] Review of [Each Others'] Books. It's a one-way, time-traveling message in a bottle comprised of dead trees. Doing it for art is a wolf's howl that it lived and that it could. Although, it's gradually shifted into over-reliance on the linkrot of spinning rust, floating electrons, and burning transistors such that used and new bookstores and libraries are endangered species. Perhaps another cycle similar to the early medieval period maybe gradually happening as today's "Romes" decline in slow-motion, accelerated by climate change decline unless and until we save ourselves through economic and ecological limits.
- psadri 2y ago
  Digging the phrase "wolf's howl". I distinctly know this phrase is part of song's lyrics - but can't think of the name.
- frutiger 2y ago
  > It's a one-way, time-traveling message in a bottle So too is DNA in children. You don’t get to choose the entirety of the message but you do get to choose the half of the lottery that they must receive. And that message is likely to far outlive any message in any dead tree or electronic book.
  - serf 2y ago
    where there is increased opportunity there is usually increased risk; it's hardly a relative comparison. also no one really chooses their offspring's 'half of the lottery', it's an accident of nature -- we only get to choose whether or not we try to propagate our own skew into the lottery roll. and to be very real here for a second, 99% of sexual interaction has nothing to do with genetic time-traveling bottle-messages, and just as few people really give a thought about the genetic combinations resulting from their actions. they just like to orgasm -- it's just not as poetic a concept to talk about.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - frutiger 2y ago
      > also no one really chooses their offspring's 'half of the lottery', it's an accident of nature -- we only get to choose whether or not we try to propagate our own skew into the lottery roll In modern societies, most people choose their mating partner. That’s the lottery half that I am referring to. Of course no one chooses specifically which half of each mate goes into the child. That would be absurd. > and to be very real here for a second, 99% of sexual interaction has nothing to do with genetic time-traveling bottle-messages, and just as few people really give a thought about the genetic combinations resulting from their actions. For the individual sure “it’s just deliberate sex” but for the genome, transmission of the message into the distant future is all there is. Just look around you, you will likely see and hear more evidence of those billion year long message transmissions than anything else.
  - archon1410 2y ago
    > And that message is likely to far outlive any message in any dead tree or electronic book. Berkeley News: Bottlenecks that reduced genetic diversity were common throughout human history (https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/06/23/bottlenecks-that-reduced-genetic-diversity-were-common-throughout-human-history/ https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/06/23/bottlenecks-that-reduce...) Perhaps the assertion is true in the sense that an average, mediocre person will have a better chance of having his genetic line survive than writing something that immoratalises him in history, like Newton or Pascal. But But if one has the ability, the latter might be a safer option...
beej71 2y ago
> A few people claim they liked it, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean they read it. Reminds me of that Groucho Marx quote: "From the moment I picked up your book until I put it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it." :)
- pdonis 2y ago
  There's also the classic Churchill quote, when a friend who had just published a book gave him a copy: "Thank you very much, I shall lose no time reading it."
bruceb 2y ago
Have you thought about translating it to English (using cheap or free means)?
Ntrails 2y ago
My grandfather self published a memoir some 30 (ish) years ago. Unsurprisingly he never really managed to shift many of the thousand or so hardbacks I believe he paid to have printed. I think a lot of it was catharsis? I also know that the published versions leave out a lot of stuff that he thought was too sensitive or reflected badly on the Air Force etc. He's long since passed, and I have a stack of 20 or so left (many were destroyed) from "inheritance". Our current strategy is to take one with us to every hotel/b&b we stay in, most of which have a library shelf, and leave one there. Maybe they never get read, maybe they do. Feels better than sending them to burn!
- em-bee 2y ago
  donate them to libraries
  - bwb 2y ago
    They generally don't want them, and will do a big giveaway desk out front. Salvation army takes books too.

by pavlov 2y ago

hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago

Exactly. Don't expect anyone to read what you wrote, much less commercial success, unless you were a Harvard undergrad English prodigy who joined Penguin publishing, or somehow wiggled into the circle of [City] Review of [Each Others'] Books. It's a one-way, time-traveling message in a bottle comprised of dead trees. Doing it for art is a wolf's howl that it lived and that it could. Although, it's gradually shifted into over-reliance on the linkrot of spinning rust, floating electrons, and burning transistors such that used and new bookstores and libraries are endangered species. Perhaps another cycle similar to the early medieval period maybe gradually happening as today's "Romes" decline in slow-motion, accelerated by climate change decline unless and until we save ourselves through economic and ecological limits.

psadri 2y ago
Digging the phrase "wolf's howl". I distinctly know this phrase is part of song's lyrics - but can't think of the name.
frutiger 2y ago
> It's a one-way, time-traveling message in a bottle So too is DNA in children. You don’t get to choose the entirety of the message but you do get to choose the half of the lottery that they must receive. And that message is likely to far outlive any message in any dead tree or electronic book.
- serf 2y ago
  where there is increased opportunity there is usually increased risk; it's hardly a relative comparison. also no one really chooses their offspring's 'half of the lottery', it's an accident of nature -- we only get to choose whether or not we try to propagate our own skew into the lottery roll. and to be very real here for a second, 99% of sexual interaction has nothing to do with genetic time-traveling bottle-messages, and just as few people really give a thought about the genetic combinations resulting from their actions. they just like to orgasm -- it's just not as poetic a concept to talk about.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - frutiger 2y ago
    > also no one really chooses their offspring's 'half of the lottery', it's an accident of nature -- we only get to choose whether or not we try to propagate our own skew into the lottery roll In modern societies, most people choose their mating partner. That’s the lottery half that I am referring to. Of course no one chooses specifically which half of each mate goes into the child. That would be absurd. > and to be very real here for a second, 99% of sexual interaction has nothing to do with genetic time-traveling bottle-messages, and just as few people really give a thought about the genetic combinations resulting from their actions. For the individual sure “it’s just deliberate sex” but for the genome, transmission of the message into the distant future is all there is. Just look around you, you will likely see and hear more evidence of those billion year long message transmissions than anything else.
- archon1410 2y ago
  > And that message is likely to far outlive any message in any dead tree or electronic book. Berkeley News: Bottlenecks that reduced genetic diversity were common throughout human history (https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/06/23/bottlenecks-that-reduced-genetic-diversity-were-common-throughout-human-history/ https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/06/23/bottlenecks-that-reduce...) Perhaps the assertion is true in the sense that an average, mediocre person will have a better chance of having his genetic line survive than writing something that immoratalises him in history, like Newton or Pascal. But But if one has the ability, the latter might be a safer option...

beej71 2y ago

> A few people claim they liked it, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean they read it. Reminds me of that Groucho Marx quote: "From the moment I picked up your book until I put it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it." :)

pdonis 2y ago
There's also the classic Churchill quote, when a friend who had just published a book gave him a copy: "Thank you very much, I shall lose no time reading it."

bruceb 2y ago

Have you thought about translating it to English (using cheap or free means)?

Ntrails 2y ago

My grandfather self published a memoir some 30 (ish) years ago. Unsurprisingly he never really managed to shift many of the thousand or so hardbacks I believe he paid to have printed. I think a lot of it was catharsis? I also know that the published versions leave out a lot of stuff that he thought was too sensitive or reflected badly on the Air Force etc. He's long since passed, and I have a stack of 20 or so left (many were destroyed) from "inheritance". Our current strategy is to take one with us to every hotel/b&b we stay in, most of which have a library shelf, and leave one there. Maybe they never get read, maybe they do. Feels better than sending them to burn!

em-bee 2y ago
donate them to libraries
- bwb 2y ago
  They generally don't want them, and will do a big giveaway desk out front. Salvation army takes books too.